An Engagement Pact (Green Valley #4)

One

E VERY WEEKDAY MORNING at six thirty, I take Oscar on a three-mile walk.

He’s a five-year-old silver lab, and he’s never outgrown his puppy enthusiasm for every single life experience. He loves me and loves his walk, and his wealthy owner tips generously.

But it rained last night, and Oscar’s adoration of mud puddles can’t be contained. It takes constant diligence to keep him on the paved path around the park as we do our five laps and then cross the street into Green Valley’s small downtown area to return to Oscar’s owner’s big fancy loft apartment.

I get briefly distracted by a near accident in the intersection a block away and fail to notice that Oscar has encountered a most cherished friend (a warm, breathing body within his view). He leaps into action to give the newcomer the only appropriate greeting in such circumstances—squirming ecstatically with lolling tongue as he does two spins and then jumps up to plant his muddy front paws as close to the man’s shoulders as he can reach so the two of them can hug it out.

It’s my fault. Oscar is semitrained and will respond to commands but only if I actually speak them.

“Oscar, no! Down! Down! ”

The dog recognizes the urgency in my tone and immediately returns his front paws to the pavement and hunkers down with barely restrained wiggles, peering up at me hopefully to make sure he’s still beloved despite his brief misstep.

I give him a little nod to confirm we’re still on speaking terms and then turn with a cringe to see how much damage the dog did to the man in front of us.

I recognize him immediately. Lean, straight build. Thick brown hair. Genuinely striking eyes of an unusual silvery-gray color. Clean-cut, attractive features. Well-tailored trousers and a good quality blue button-down that now has mud streaked on the front from Oscar’s paws.

Dan Mills. We’ve spoken a few times, but I don’t know him very well.

The last time we talked, in December last year, he proposed.

“I’m so sorry, Dan.” I’m horrified by the state of his nice clothes. He’s carrying a leather laptop bag. He’s obviously on his way to work. “Oh my goodness, what a mess. I’m so sorry! It’s entirely my fault. I should have caught him before he jumped.”

Dan has an easygoing and leisurely smile that I’ve never seen waver, not even when I rejected his proposal of marriage. He chuckles, grinning down at Oscar, who is visibly torn between blissful joy at meeting a brand-new best friend and anxiety over having possibly been a tiny bit bad. “I’m not mad at you, buddy. You’re a good boy, aren’t you?”

Oscar spins three more times and then squirms over toward Dan, making sure all four feet and his rear end never leave the sidewalk.

Dan gives him an ear scratch that clearly makes the dog’s entire year. Then his silvery eyes lift slowly to my face. “Hey, Vicky.”

“Hey.” I’m flushed from the long walk in the cool morning air and from being flustered over my poor dog-walking performance. “This is Oscar. I’m so sorry he messed up your clothes.”

“Eh.” He gives a shrug. “It’s no big deal.”

“But you can’t go to work like that. You’ll have to go home to change, and you’ll probably be late now.”

“No, I won’t. I don’t need to be in the office until eight thirty. I was just headed to the coffee shop before work. I’ve got plenty of time to run home and change.”

That’s a relief since causing him to be late would make the situation significantly worse. “Well, at least let me buy you a coffee to go to make up for it. You shouldn’t go without coffee because I was too distracted to control Oscar.”

An expression flickers briefly on his face, as if he’s debating whether to take me up on the offer. Then he nods and smiles again. “Okay, thanks. It’s not necessary, but I appreciate it.”

Relaxing now that I can at least make a gesture in recompense for the disaster, I say, “I can pay for getting your clothes laundered or dry-cleaned if you want.”

“Uh, no way. That’s entirely unnecessary.”

I don’t say it, but I’m relieved because who knows how much of my day’s pay that would have gobbled up. “Okay. Thanks for being so nice about it.”

“It’s really not a big deal.”

I gesture toward his muddy clothes. “You’re saying that’s not a big deal?”

“They’re clothes. I can change them. And it’s partly my fault anyway. I was distracted too. I could have predicted what Oscar was about to do if I’d been watching him instead of something else.”

“Did you see that near accident too? I thought for sure that SUV was going to plow into the garbage truck.”

He makes a wordless humming sound I take for affirmation as we turn toward the coffee shop a few storefronts down the block. When we get to the door, I ask, “Would you mind standing out here with him for a minute so I can run in and get you your coffee?”

“Sure. Just plain black dark roast.”

“Are you sure? I can get you something fancier if you prefer.”

“I only drink black coffee. Oscar and I will be fine out here.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll just be a minute.”

Relieved that his order should be quick and not absurdly expensive, I hurry inside, wait behind the one person at the counter, and then order Dan’s coffee.

In less than three minutes, I’m on my way back out to discover Dan squatting next to Oscar while having a sober conversation and an extended ear-scratch session.

I can’t help smiling since Oscar is having the time of his life being taken seriously like that.

“Despite his earlier performance,” I say as I approach, “he’s really a very good fella. Aren’t you, Oscar?”

Oscar pants and does one tight spin.

Dan straightens up so he can accept the coffee. “Thank you for this. And I can tell he’s a good fella. Are you walking him for Lock-N-Leash?”

“Yeah. Every morning.”

“I’ve seen you walking about five dogs at once before.”

“Yeah, those are all good walkers who don’t misbehave, and I only take them about a mile. Oscar needs a lot more exercise than that, so I take him on his own in the mornings.”

Dan has fallen into step with me as I walk back to Oscar’s home. I assume maybe he’s parked in the same direction. “How many dogs do you take care of every day?”

“It depends. Some of the owners have different schedules and needs for each day. But I usually walk at least ten dogs and then stop by to feed and let out about ten more.”

I started working for Lock-N-Leash—the primary dog-walking and pet-sitting company in town—a year ago when I moved to Green Valley. At the time, it was the only available job I was qualified for that didn’t make me want to run away screaming. It’s not at all how I ever saw my life going, but it hasn’t made me miserable.

So that’s something.

“Sounds like it takes you all day.”

“It usually does. Occasionally I have lighter days, but other times I’m going from six to six.”

“Do they pay you for overtime?”

“Yeah. It’s a full-time job with benefits, which is why I took it. It’s not exactly lucrative, but they treat me pretty well. It’s not a bad job for right now.”

Dan sips his coffee, giving me a sidelong look that’s not as casual as he wants me to think. He’s peering at me. Trying to figure me out.

I’ve never much liked when people do that.

“How long do you think you’ll keep working there?” he asks after a minute.

“I don’t know. I’m trying to save up money to go to grad school, so I’ll probably keep doing it until I’ve got enough saved.”

I’m a little uncomfortable with the topic because Dan’s proposal in December was a financial transaction. He inherited a nice-sized trust fund from his grandparents, but there’s a weird stipulation on it. He can’t get access to the money until he’s married or thirty-five years old.

He’s only twenty-eight right now, so marrying is the quickest method of gaining his inheritance. He thought I might be amenable to the idea. If I married him, he would give me some of the money from his trust.

The idea of my trying to save money is probably laughable to him. I had a way to get money easily and quickly, and I said no to his offer.

But it was weird. And off-putting. A man I barely know coming up and asking me to marry him for money.

I assumed he was some kind of creep.

In the six months since he proposed, I’ve paid attention to anything anyone said about him and learned he isn’t a creep at all.

At least no one in the world believes him to be one.

In fact, everyone everywhere testifies to what a nice guy he is.

He doesn’t mention his offer or sound snide in any way as he asks, “What do you want to study in grad school?”

“Wildlife conservation,” I tell him. “There aren’t a ton of programs for that yet, and they aren’t exactly cheap.”

“Oh, that sounds interesting. You’ll have to tell me about it sometime.”

We’ve reached the doorway that leads to Oscar’s apartment. I need to take him upstairs and get going with my day. But Dan doesn’t appear to be in a hurry, and for some reason I don’t have any compulsion to say goodbye. “Oh. I can, I guess.” I look down at Oscar and then back up at Dan. “So I guess you’re not married yet?” He’s not wearing a ring. I looked specifically.

He huffs in dry amusement. “No. That’s the problem with living in such a wealthy town. My trust is decent but not very large by Green Valley standards, so most of the people I know don’t need the money. And it’s kind of weird to go around asking.”

“Well, yes. It’s a strange situation. I’m not surprised you thought of me first.” I might be the only person in his circle who actually needs the money. No wonder he asked me before anyone else.

His face tenses briefly before it relaxes into a smile. “I wasn’t trying to be creepy or take advantage of you. I honestly thought we could help each other out.”

“I see that now. I’m sorry I was kind of brusque when I turned you down. You were nice about it, and I totally shut down the conversation before you even finished the offer. I probably really annoyed you.”

“I wasn’t annoyed. I was disappointed.” He meets my eyes. “And I still think it’s not a bad deal for the right person. The offer is still available if you change your mind. I can give you a hundred thousand dollars after we get married and get access to the trust. No matter how expensive your grad program is, surely that will get you a good way into it.”

I almost choked at the amount. “A good way? That will cover it and more. I’m just starting with a two-year master’s program since that’s the minimum for most of the jobs I’m interested in. You can seriously give me that much?”

His stance and eyes have changed. Like he’s getting excited. But his pleasant, laid-back expression doesn’t flicker. “Yes. It’s ten percent of the trust, but I figure that’s fair since we’re only talking about three months or so. We just need to date briefly, have a short engagement, and then be married for long enough for the trustee to unlock the trust.”

I gulp, my blood rushing from an entirely new excitement. “Oh. Wow.”

“Should I have mentioned the exact amount before? It felt kind of crass to announce an exact amount immediately following a proposal, and you were so clear about not being interested.”

“Well, it was weird, so I felt awkward about it and didn’t even consider it. But I’ve heard only good things about you since. I’m not from Green Valley. I’ve never seen even close to that amount of money in my entire life.”

“Maybe you can think about it.” I sense more urgent feelings inside him, but he’s not showing any of it. “Just let me know if you change your mind.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls a business card out of his wallet. “You can call or text me anytime.”

I take the card. It’s from a local architecture firm.

I hadn’t realized that he was an architect. I guess I never even thought about what his job was. He was just the weird guy who proposed the third time we met.

“Okay,” I say, my voice breaking oddly. “I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” He leans over to give Oscar one more pet. “It was nice to meet you, Oscar.”

Before I can think of anything else to say, he’s walking away, turning back once to give me a little wave. “See you around, Vicky.”

I wave back with a blank expression.

A hundred thousand dollars.

For a few months of my time.

With a nice guy, not the creep I thought he was.

It’s weird, yes. But still...

Surely I’m not the only girl in the world who would consider the offer.

***

I ’M STILL THINKING about possibilities that evening.

All day, I’ve been filled with a jittery kind of excitement I’ve only experienced a few times in my life. When my mom was finally about to get a job after a year of unemployment. When I got news of receiving a full scholarship to college. When I first met the guy who ended up being my boyfriend for three years in college.

Like something good and life-changing is almost within my grasp.

If it was a normal situation or opportunity, I would grab for it without even a second thought, but there’s nothing normal about this. Getting engaged to a man who is almost a stranger. Marrying him.

It’s just... odd, and so I don’t trust it.

I’ve been living with Jim and Esther Emerson since I moved to Green Valley last year. He’s my mother’s cousin, but I call them Uncle Jim and Aunt Esther. Ever since my mother died, they and their daughter, Savannah, are the only family I have left. That’s why I moved back to Green Valley after I graduated from college and broke up with my boyfriend.

I have no one else.

Because I’m still thinking about Dan’s offer, I’m distracted through dinner. Jim and Esther are kind, practical people who worked hard all their lives. Only in the past few years, ever since their daughter married a rich man, have they had any sort of financial security. She paid off their town house and all their medical bills from when Esther was treated for cancer, and they got back a few weeks ago from a fancy vacation in the Caribbean with their daughter and son-in-law.

They still act like the aunt and uncle I’ve always known, and they’ve been incredibly generous to let me live with them rent-free so I can save up money.

After dinner, I help with the dishes—I’d do them all myself, but Esther simply won’t let me—while Jim flips through the newspaper he still receives every morning but barely reads.

“What’s the matter, Vicky?” Esther asks after a minute of rinsing and loading the dishwasher in silence.

“Nothing,” I tell her with a smile. “I’m sorry if I’m out of it today.”

“Is something in particular distracting you?”

I shrug, awkward and embarrassed by the personal question.

I was raised by a single mother who could barely make ends meet. I spent hours after school on my own and did most of the grocery shopping and cooking for both of us. I learned to smile brightly and actively listen when people talk so that others think I’m friendly and warm, but in reality, I’m fiercely independent. I don’t let people in easily, and I never let myself become genuinely vulnerable.

Not even with someone I care about as much as Aunt Esther. The one time I did with Rick, my college boyfriend, I ended up paying a very high price.

“Not really. Although I did have an unfortunate incident this morning, and Oscar got someone muddy.”

“Oh dear. Who was it? Some people around here can be real assholes about innocent mistakes. Is it going to be a problem with your job?”

“I don’t think so. He seemed to take it as well as anyone would, and I don’t think he’s going to report it. But I still feel bad about it.”

Jim and Esther helped me get the job at Lock-N-Leash since they know the owners, so I’d feel terrible if I managed to blow it. But Dan didn’t seem annoyed at all, so I can’t imagine he’d cause a stink with my boss.

“Well, everyone makes the occasional mistake. Try not to hold yourself to impossible standards.”

I can’t help laughing at that. “That’s easier said than done.”

“I know it is.” Esther’s blue eyes are kind. “You’re so much like Savannah. She was always trying to do things perfectly and entirely on her own so no one could judge her or find her lacking. It makes you tough. But it doesn’t always make you happy.”

I’m shifting from foot to foot. I’m fine with small talk. Honestly, I think I’m pretty good at that—at making conversation and conveying interest and good will even if I’m not feeling it.

But I’m not good at depth. At real sharing of the self. At anything too sincere. Too earnest.

“Yeah. I’m sure that’s right,” I manage to say.

“Don’t pester her, Esther,” Jim says from over his newspaper. “She’s not looking for a deep talk right now.”

“It’s fine,” I say, giggling because he’s obviously teasing his wife. “I appreciate the advice. But it’s not exactly something that’s easy to change about yourself.”

“No, it’s not,” Esther said. “It took Savannah a long time and a year being married before she could really open up.”

“Are y’all seriously talking about me behind my back?” The voice from the kitchen doorway surprises me. I whirl around to see Savannah herself grinning at us.

“She was trying to give me advice,” I explain, “and using you as a positive example.”

“Uh-huh.” Savannah gives her dad a pat on the back as she passes and then accepts a half hug from her mother. “What did Vicky do to deserve all this sage advice?”

“I felt bad for making a minor mistake at work,” I explain.

“Barely a mistake at all,” Esther puts in. “And it sounds like the guy in question didn’t hold it against her. Did it happen to be a handsome young man?”

“Aunt Esther!”

“Mom, don’t even start with that.” Savannah is laughing and leaning against the kitchen counter. She’s got the same golden-brown hair that I have, but she has blue-gray eyes instead of my medium brown. We’re about the same height (average) and build (also average). People could easily mistake us for sisters even though she’s nine years older than me. “Not every woman is looking for a man.”

“Well, you weren’t looking, were you? But then Lance showed up anyway. And you’re so much happier now.”

“I’m happier because Lance was the right person at the right time for me. Not everyone is happier after finding a man, you know. Some women are way worse off.”

“Tell me about it,” I put in. “Rick was one of the worst things to ever happen to me, even though I was blissfully happy for the first six months we were together.”

Rick never cheated on me as far as I know, but he was a lazy, deceitful asshole who left me with no savings, ruined credit, and the resolve to never live with a man again.

“You’re well rid of that jerk,” Esther says, tsking her tongue as she always does when I bring up Rick. “But most of us make relationship mistakes when we’re young. It doesn’t mean that you can’t find a good one.”

“I know. But honestly, I’m not looking. I’ve never been one of those girls who always needs a guy to feel good about herself. And this is the worst possible time for me to get into a relationship. I’ll be moving for grad school as soon as I save up enough money. So it doesn’t really matter how young and handsome the guy this morning happens to be.”

Esther perks up. “So he is handsome?”

I can’t help but laugh as Savannah gives her mother a playful swat.

Then she asks, “Seriously, who was it? A dog didn’t bite him or anything, right?”

“Oh my goodness, no. Oscar just jumped up on him with muddy paws.” I feel my cheeks warming for absolutely no good reason. “It was Dan Mills.”

Savannah thinks for a minute, obviously trying to connect the name with a person. Dan is younger than her, so they wouldn’t have been friends in school. “Dan Mills. Is he the architect?”

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“He always hangs out with that coffee shop group. Paige Coney and Julianna and Carlton Hill. Carlton’s working for Lance now.”

“I thought Julianna’s last name was Archibald.” I frown, trying to mentally sort out the people I’ve encountered in the past several months. I’ve met a lot of them although I haven’t really made any friends.

“Oh, it is. She got married last year. I forgot about that. Anyway, Dan is always hanging out with them. He is good-looking. And he gives off that relaxed, laid-back vibe I’ve always liked. He didn’t get mad about the muddy paws?”

“No. He wasn’t mad at all. Which was really nice of him.”

“Yes, it was. So maybe you are interested?” Savannah gives me a skeptical look.

“No, I’m not. I mean...” I gulp. “He did give me a weird offer. But it’s so strange I’m not sure I should take it seriously.”

Esther and Savannah wait with obvious interest, and even Jim looks over from the table to see what I’m going to say. So I continue, “I guess his trust fund has a stipulation that he has to be married to get access to it before he turns thirty-five.”

“Oh my God,” Savannah breathes.

Esther covers her mouth with one hand, her eyes wide and round.

“So anyway.” I look at the floor and try not to squirm.

“He wants you to marry him?” Savannah asks.

“He did suggest that. He said he’d give me a hundred thousand dollars of his trust fund if I’ll marry him. We just need to pretend to be engaged for long enough to fool his trustee into thinking it’s real and then get married. As soon as he gets access to the trust, then we can get an annulment or a divorce or whatever.”

“A hundred thousand dollars?” Savannah’s eyebrows are sky-high. “That must be a pretty sizable chunk of his trust. I don’t know all the details, but his grandparents weren’t superwealthy by Green Valley standards.”

“He said it was a tenth.”

“That’s generous of him. That clause was pretty popular for Green Valley folks of their generation. Lance’s grandmother did the same thing to him.”

“He had to get married?”

She nods.

I’d never—not once—imagined that possibility. She and Lance are so obviously in love. “So... I mean... Did you...? Did he...?”

“He paid me to marry him. His requirement was worse than Dan’s because we had to be married for an entire year. We fell in love before the end of it.”

Half laughing and half gasping, I attempt to wrap my mind around that. “I can’t believe it! You two are perfect for each other.”

“Yeah, uh, we didn’t realize that at first. In fact, I didn’t like him at all. But I needed the money, so I decided it was a workable plan. Dan’s offer isn’t for as much money as Lance offered me, but it’s also for a much shorter period of time. Everything I’ve ever heard about Dan has been good. I think he’s a genuinely good guy.”

I gulp. My mind is spinning. I can’t believe this is actually happening. “That’s what everyone says.”

“You should do exactly what you want to do, whether other people agree with it or not. But it sounds like a pretty good deal to me. Couldn’t you go to grad school right away if you had that much?”

“Yes. I could.”

Savannah looks at me, clearly waiting. So are Esther and Jim.

I swallow again. “I don’t know. It’s just so weird. Wasn’t it awkward with Lance?”

“Of course it was. I actually had to live with him for an entire year, which you won’t have to do. It was awkward and frustrating and sometimes embarrassing, and I often wanted to kick his ass for being so obnoxious. But most jobs have annoyances and frustrations, and most of them don’t offer so much money. Even if I hadn’t fallen in love with Lance, it would have been worth it to me.”

“Dan said it would only be like three months since we could end it shortly after we actually get married.”

“Three months. A hundred thousand dollars.” Jim gives a low whistle. “Not too shabby.”

“But don’t do anything you’re uncomfortable with,” Esther puts in. “After all, you don’t really know him. Maybe he’s not as decent as everyone says.”

“I think he is,” Savannah says. “People would have talked if he wasn’t.”

The whirling chaos of my thoughts suddenly settles into a clear decision.

I know it for sure. It’s the right thing to do.

“I’m going to do it,” I say, pulling out my phone from the pocket of my jeans. “It’s more money than I could ever have hoped to get at this point in my life, and I think he’ll treat me fine. It’s only three months. How much trouble could it be?”

Jim turns back to his paper while Esther nods and pats me on the back. Savannah gives me a faint, almost knowing smile.

I ignore it and find Dan’s number in my contacts, which I added earlier today just in case I lost his card.

I send him a text message.

Hey, it’s Vicky Emerson. If your offer is still available, I might be interested. Can we talk it over some time?

His response comes through in about ten seconds. It’s definitely still available. Are you free this evening?

A little laugh escapes my lips as I read his reply.

I honestly can’t believe this is happening.